John, chapter 18

Betrayal

It is hard for us to live with it in our lives. I have experienced it before, and it is one of the worst feelings I have ever had. There is confusion, anger, sorrow, and a ton of other emotions wrapped into that moment. You don’t know what to do next and you even question if God really know what he is doing. To me, it is one of the worst things we can do to another human being.

No take all that and multiply it infinitely. That is what we have today in John 18 with Jesus betrayal by Judas. Jesus knew that it was going to happen. He knew the exact result of it, and how God would use it this ultimate evil to perform the act of ultimate good. Still, it is no less heartbreaking. It is an attempt by mankind’s evil nature to tarnish the good, perfect image of Christ.

28Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. – John 18:28

I wanted to focus on this verse because I find it sad, but incredibly funny. The Pharisees were all in favor of killing an innocent man simply because they didn’t agree with Him. Jesus was a threat tot heir power because He had different ideas, so in their eyes he must be killed. They had no problem ignoring that little commandment of “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. Ask these guys to enter the Roman palace, however, and suddenly they grow a conscience.

Through all this, however, we continue to see Jesus’ calm demeanor. He had had His moment of fear while praying in the garden, but God strengthened Him to face this ordeal. If God can do something like that in the face of the world’s greatest injustice, imagine what He can do when we seek Him.

John, chapter 17

The power of prayer continues to amaze me. I have recently tried to improve my prayer life through a 40 day course I am taking, and it is helping. I was simply tired of my prayer life being so unfocused. I needed more guidance and structure so it would have more meaning.

I should have read John 17, however, because it is amazing to watch Jesus prayer just before His Crucifixion. First, we see Him pray for Himself. I cannot imagine the anguish He was feeling in that moment. Here we have someone who is fully God, yet He is asking for help in something. That kind of blows my mind, honestly. I can’t imagine Him needing help for anything.

Next, Jesus prays both for His disciples and for all believers. He makes it a special point not to pray for the world. I think it is because He knew the world as a whole was sinful and lost. It is individual believers, like You and me, that needs this prayer to navigate through a lost world such as this. I leave you with His words today.

⁹I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. – John 17:9-12

John, chapter 16

I apologize for being away the past few days. Once again, life has gotten in the way of my more important work here. I have no recourse, so I apologize.

Today’s lesson focuses primarily on the Holy Spirit and its role once Jesus’ earthly ministry was over. Sometimes, the role of the Holy Spirit is the hardest to grasp in the Trinity. We know the Father is the Creator God. We know Jesus is His Son and is both fully God and fully man. With the Holy Spirit, however, we are unsure as to its role. I have always understood it to be a kind of conscience. It is a guiding force that we listen for in the quiet moments when we are seeking God’s direction.

12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. – John 16:12-15

So how do we listen for the Spirit? I admit, sometimes it is difficult to quiet myself and actively seek this voice even when I desperately need to do so. It is something I have tried to seek the past few days in order to combat my feelings of despair and depression, and so far it has worked well. Jesus promises us in this chapter that if we seek Him, He will find us. If we seek the Spirit of Truth, that truth will implant itself on our hearts. It will not happen immediately, but it will happen.

That also links into the pain factor that Jesus reference’s in the final part of this chapter. There are times where I feel like this life is nothing but pain. I struggle to see the joy even in daily things that should bring joy. I hold on tot his promise that it is only temporary, however. I feel like temporary is bordering on forever at the moment, but Jesus’ words here promise me that I will not have to live this temporary life forever. I am His, and because of that I will receive His wisdom and guidance.

John, chapter 15

Are you fruitful? I have asked that question about myself as I approach a very important period in my life. It is appropriate that I am touching on this topic right now. Because of a commitment this summer, I am likely available for the next 7 weeks without any form of a job. My temp agency usually finds me long term stuff, so unless I get a short-term assignment in that time I have a lot of time on my hands. I am using it for job-hunting, but more importantly I am using this as a time to center myself on God since I feel like I have fallen far away from Him in the past few months.

In this time, I want to examine other ways I can be fruitful. Once we get back from this summer commitment I know there are going to be some massive life changes that I must face. I also know that there is absolutely no way we can face them unless god comes through to provide for us. In that, I long to be fruitful and support those around me. I want to get God back in my heart instead of toiling away in the darkness of my own spirit as I have done for far too long. I admit that I am a person that regularly fights depression and hopelessness. After three days of this new refocusing, however, nearly nine months of depression has started to fade away.

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. – John 15:5-8

There are few words truer than these. Apart from God, I can do nothing. Apart from God, I spend my days wasting my life in my apartment fruitlessly searching for something that I cannot find. This is exactly why I am desperately seeking to reconnect with God. I am tired of living a life that does not bear fruit. I know, deep within me, that I am built for more than this. With God’s help I will find that worth.

John, chapter 14

Our faith is built on a promise. It is built on the promise that Jesus will intercede with God on our behalf if we believe in Him and His sacrifice. You can write hundreds of words on that subject, but that is the basic point of Christianity. All we must do is believe. We cannot find favor with God through a sacrifice we make, or through any other earthly action. It is Jesus’ way or no way.

John 14 Is Jesus’ closing speech to his disciples. It occurs on the night of the Last Supper and is done in the presence of all the disciples except for Judas. This is a speech that oozes Jesus’ love for mankind, and its beauty is only darkened by the fact that while He was giving this message Judas was committing the worst act in the history of humanity by betraying Him.

23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. – John 14:23-24

This is the only reason we have hope for humanity. I admit that in days where I am depressed I have trouble seeing this hope. I have trouble seeing this promise as being little more than dusty words on a page. In that, I ask myself what we have to risk by believing? The answer is nothing. If we believe and this promise isn’t real we have no hope anyway, so why not place our hope in Jesus?

John, Chapter 13

I have long talked about Jesus’ humility. It is this humility that allowed Him to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Could he have absolved us of our sins in another way? Of course! He is the Son of God. God could have chosen another way in which we find salvation, say if we all had to wear a live chicken on our heads for a month. It’s absurd, but if that is what God decided it would work.

That method, and most any other, would have been based on works though. As we know, salvation cannot be based on works because we are born into a sinful world with sinful natures. Only God, through a loving act of kindness, can provide a way to separate us from our sins. It had to be a sacrifice, since the ultimate wages of sin is death. We see the epitome of that humble nature on display as Jesus prepares for His sacrifice not by looking into Himself, but by continuing to serve those around Him.

12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. – John 13:12-16

Jesus knew this was going to be the last night before his death. He knew what He had to face, yet He was still serving. Many people when facing death want to do something solely for themselves. Jesus does the opposite. Here is the most powerful man that ever lived, yet he reduces Himself to serve in a slave’s role to wash the feet of his disciples. He wanted to set before them one final example of what they were supposed to do in serving the church from that point forward.

John, Chapter 12 part 2

What was the world like before Jesus was here? What hope did we have for eternal life? We know the Jews had their system of cleansing and sacrifice that had to be continually repeated, but the Bible says very little about those that are not Jewish. There was no covenant in place for the gentiles as many of us are. John 12 addresses that.

³¹Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. ³²But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." ³³He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. – John 12:31-33

The prince of this world that Jesus mentions is sin. We were all slaves to it, and there was no way to break the bondage of sin without Christ’s promise. It was in his sinless, perfect death that the chains of sin were broken. Jesus saw this from the beginning of His life. The events of this chapter are the culmination of His mission and reason for being.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. – John 12:44-46

I am trying something this week in order to break out of a stagnant funk I have been in. Because of commitments later this summer, I likely have no work for the next eight weeks. God has still provided for me financially, so I am trying to use this time to actively seek His purpose in my life. Today day one of a forty day period (it is 40 weekdays from now until my next big commitment) that I am committing myself to seeking His light instead of the darkness of my life. He is a light, too. Lately, I have struggled in the darkness of my own soul. It has not been a pretty place, either. I know over the next eight weeks there are a lot of major life changes and life decisions that need to be made. The scary part is that I am overwhelmed by them. I have absolutely no idea how the changes can be pulled off, what decisions are going to be made, or how God is going to provide for the changes. I don’t even know where the doors to this new path are, let alone how to open them. All I know is that I have this promise, this power of God’s light, to guide me. Something tells me for now it is enough.